Kelly has been described by many as wanting near-total personnel control, and that would fit the outline Browns owner Jimmy Haslam gave the other day, wanting to hire a coach first and then back-fill with a sub-GM personnel man.

Weeden has already said that he cannot run that offense. If Kelly comes to Cleveland, Colt or Michael Vick will be the new quarterback. I don’t see this is a good fit though, They should be looking at Gruden.

jhorton83 says:Jan 2, 2013 4:57 PM

Weeden is a goner if Chip Kelly comes in. Definitely not the kind of QB that can run his offense.

I really hope they hire someone with solid NFL coaching experience. Lovie Smith comes to mind…winning record as head coach, 3 division titles and appearance in the Super Bowl…Cleveland could do a lot worse (and has).

I really like Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks. They’re tremendous fun to watch. But I don’t see why people act like it’s some bizarre offense no one has ever seen before.

Oregon runs lots of simple plays out of the spread. They just run them very quickly and everyone on the offense blocks crisply. If you look it’s a lot of pitches, inside handoffs, quick slants and bubble screens. All plays that are run every week in the NFL.

If he can find some quick WRs that can block his offense will translate. The biggest question though is will he wear out his offensive players going at that tempo. You have more guys to swap in at the college level because the rosters are bigger.

Cleveland should go for a coach who was pro level expirience not college,a coach like bill cowher,Bruce arians,mike mccoy,jay gruden or even somebody familiar with the afc north like
Bill billick. Just a thought.

trapshoot says:Jan 2, 2013 5:56 PM

Why would he want to leave Oregon for Cleveland?

howiehandles says:Jan 2, 2013 5:56 PM

“Why would Chip Kelly want to go to a snowy, nasty, dreary place like Cleveland? Terrible place to run a fast-paced offense.”

Granted, they have a HoF QB, but how is the weather in NE any worse than Cleveland?

jackblackshairyback says:Jan 2, 2013 5:57 PM

Just to address some things in above comments…..

Check out the earlier article about Kelly here on PFT, he said(to paraphrase) your system must highlight your personnel’s strenghts. In other words, he isn’t locked into what he does now. His history backs that up. At New Hampshire, his offense was very pass heavy. He goes to Oregon, where it is more run-oriented.

While Weeden has already said he wouldn’t be able to run a spread offense like that, I think Kelly could tailor things to highlight more downfield throws. That’s something Shurmur was unwilling, or unable(or both) to do.

I think Kelly is an intriguing candidate. My concerns about him is that he doesn’t have any experience in the NFL, and he would need a strong defensive coordinator.

jamaltimore says:Jan 2, 2013 6:02 PM

Please Please hire Chip Kelly and ensure the Browns stay in the basement of the AFC north. The dynamics of college coaching and pro is so different and by the time Kelly get’s the personnel in place he’ll be gone.

macbull says:Jan 2, 2013 6:04 PM

Actually, Weeden would be a better QB than any QB Chip Kelly developed at Oregon State.

Kelly’s done a good job of producing QBs for the Canadian Football League, but none are in the NFL.

Kelly would love Weeden in the hurry up style offense…an offense Weeden ran very well at Oklahoma State.

The big question for Kelly to consider…has Joe Banner changed since being fired by the Eagles?

Will Joe Banner allow Chip Kelly to have the kind of power Andy Reid had in Philly?

Banner’s power struggle with Andy Reid is well known in coaching circles, be it college or the Pros. Banner ultimately lost his job in Philly as a result of his power struggle with Reid.

Does Chip Kelly trust Joe Banner?

If the answer is yes, Kelly would be taking over a team that already has many of the pieces in place to produce in a Chip Kelly type of offense.

Gus Malzhan is a way better coach then Kelly. His offense is way more progressive and innovative.

bengalzzfan says:Jan 2, 2013 6:29 PM

fanodawg says:Jan 2, 2013 5:23 PM

I really hope they hire someone with solid NFL coaching experience. Lovie Smith comes to mind…winning record as head coach, 3 division titles and appearance in the Super Bowl…Cleveland could do a lot worse (and has).

Now that could be scary. I’m not to worried about Chip Kelly in Cleveland, but Lovie?
Yeah that could be a problem.

kvanhorn87 says:Jan 2, 2013 6:37 PM

@macbull, I assure you. You have no clue what you are talking about. Look up Howie Roseman not Andy Reid for power struggle. He was squeezed out by his own guy.

hedphurst says:Jan 2, 2013 6:42 PM

Weeden said he couldn’t run the zone read offense, and that’s because he’s mainly a pocket passer, not a runner. If Kelly tailored his offense to remain spread, but not rely on the quarterback to be mobile, I don’t see why Weeden couldn’t run it. At the very least, Weeden should be able to be solid for a year, until they could draft a worthy dual-threat player to run it in 2014. IMHO, Kelly would be a high risk, high reward choice. He could introduce a lot of fun and exciting new concepts to an NFL offense, out he could flame out terribly. The risk of momentous failure is there with any coaching candidate, but I think the ceiling is higher with a guy like Kelly than with most other options.

Weeden never said that he couldn’t run a spread offense. The spread offense is all he ran at OSU. Weeden said that he didn’t think he could run an option-read offense. Chip Kelley could easily create a no huddle, spread offense in Cleveland. If he wanted to keep Weeden as the QB he would need to lose a lot of the option read plays he runs, but I see it still being an awesome offense. Josh Gordon and Travis Benjamin would thrive in this type of an offense, and it would create a thinner front to make it easier for Trent to get to the secondary.

Buyer beware on Chip Kelly and his offensive scheme. If he is going to bring that fast break Oregon style football to the NFL good luck getting a defensive coordinator worth a grain of salt or defensive free agents to sign up for that assignment. There is a reason why Oregon gives up so many points to quality college football programs, because their defense is logging double time on the field. Also NFL defenses over time have always found a way adapt to the next great offensive gimmick. Look how the run and shoot panned out. Every defensive coordnitor in the NFL will be watching the Stanford v. Oregon 2012 tape in the offseason on how to defend the spread. A 5- 2 look and using your DEs to push plays to the middle worked with a college team with maybe 2 or 3 all americans on defense. I think it is a safe bet in the NFL where there are 8 or 9 all americans on D it will work even better. It will be interesting to see how RGIII, Wilson and Colin K do next year after the NFL has a whole off season to go to school on the spread. Much like the run and shoot it will be effective if you have the right QB (Warren Moon), but in the long run how many run and shoot teams won a Super Bowl. Answer ZERO. I see a similiar fate for the spread, beacuse leaving your franchise QB open to get hit in a league of defensive players who weigh about 250 and run a 4.4 40 will eventually make teams want to protect the QB.

I don’t like Weeden. You know, players who don’t even carry their own helmet off the field because of entitlement. They treated Weeden like the second coming of Bernie here. Colt McCoy got totally hosed. Never got the keys to the good car.